Shadows of the Mind
by tfm
Summary: To understand his past, Spencer Reid must look deep into the shadows of his own mind. Reid/Emily Friendship
1. Chapter 1

Shadows of the Mind

_**Everything you can imagine is real.**_

_Pablo Picasso_

ONE

'_Every one of these victims had an IQ above 180.'_

Spencer Reid's life flashed before his eyes.

'_It's a conductive gel, the kind they use in EEGs_.'

The helmet of the strange machine was strapped to his head, and he knew that eventually, he wouldn't be able to take it anymore. That he would die like the seven previous victims.

'_It's like their brains were overloaded. Fried, almost.'_

To his left, a man in a white lab coat fiddled with the machinery. 'I've got hopes for you,' he muttered to himself.

'_I think he's experimenting on them.'_

A mad scientist. That kind of unsub he hadn't experienced before. It was something new, though he was sure he probably could have done without it.

'_Reid, what are you doing? Look out!'_

His friends. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his friends, there to rescue him. He hoped dearly that they were real, and not just figments of his overactive mind.

'Morgan. Emily,' he mumbled.

'Hans Berkstein. This is the FBI. Put your hands behind your head, and turn around slowly.' Morgan enunciated each word slowly and carefully, so there could be no cause for confusion. He could barely hide the anger in his voice.

Emily moved slowly towards Reid, as Morgan kept his weapon trained on the scientist. 'Reid, can you hear me? I'm going to get this thing off you, okay?'

Hans Berkstein turned slowly, an expansive smile on his face. 'Do not think you can stop my research that easily.' He laughed maniacally, doing nothing whatsoever to contradict the popular stereotype. Then, before Morgan could stop him, he had pulled a lever below his shoulder.

A shockwave spread across the room, knocking everyone to the floor.

For Spencer Reid, everything flashed white, and he woke up in a world like no other.

**A/N: Instead of studying, like I should be doing, I'm writing this. Those of you waiting for another chapter of Sanity Frontier will just have to wait. I'd write more, but I have an exam in two hours, so just be content with this. Peace out – tfm.**


	2. Chapter 2

Shadows of the Mind

_**There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,**__**  
**__**Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.**_

_William Shakespeare_

TWO

Reid opened his eyes slowly, taking in his surroundings. Everything felt so different, yet so familiar. He felt his head. The electrodes, the helmet – they were gone. The IV had been removed from his arm. His hair – shaved off by Hans Berkstein the previous day – had returned, curling just below the ears. He was in a pinstriped, button-up shirt, below an Argyle vest. Loose trousers were held up by a belt. A brown messenger bag hung from his shoulder. The look had been christened The Reid Classics Collection by Garcia, who found his strait-laced, conservative nature highly amusing.

'Where are we?' Reid jumped. He had been ignorant of any company in this bizarre place. Emily was lying a few feet from him, struggling to sit up. As soon as she did manage, she held her head in her hands.

'Do you have that?' she asked.

'Have what?'

'Painful throbbing. Like there's something in my head trying to sledgehammer its way out.' She grimaced, and he took careful note of her appearance; the dark pant-suit she had worn so many times, the same one she had been wearing when she and Morgan had come to free him from Doctor Hans Berkstein. Morgan. He had been there when the shockwave had gone through the room. Where was he now?

'No,' answered Reid, frowning. 'I feel...fine.' The answer was one he hadn't expected to come to. He'd been in severe pain just minutes before. Now, if anything, he felt a strange kind of euphoria.

'Where are we?' she repeated the question that had previously gone unanswered. Reid opened his mouth, and spoke a sentence that he rarely used.

'I don't know.' He looked around, eager to gain some kind of insight into their surroundings. The sky was a dark grey-blue, and ominous clouds hung low. Gnarled trees littered the landscape. 'Dr. Berkstein...did you find out what his area of research was?'

'Theoretical physics of alternate and realities,' she replied promptly, and then realised the implications of the statement. 'Oh. So we're trapped in some kind of alternate reality? That really puts a damper on the day,' she added darkly.

Reid said nothing. He found himself somewhat intrigued, rather than mortified, at the prospect of them inhabiting an alternate universe. 'Let's look around.'

'We need to find a way back,' she warned him. 'No checking everyone we find for a goatee.'

'Actually,' he provided happily. 'The probability of there being any recognisable life in an alternate reality is somewhat low. If you take into account the sheer age of the universe and the infinite number of divulging paths reality could have taken...' He trailed off at the look on her face.

'Reid,' she reminded him. 'We are in an _alternate universe_.'

'That's not the only option,' he shrugged. 'I could be unconscious, and you might be a figment of my imagination. Or, of course, the entirety of existence could be all in my head.'

'I don't see how channelling Descartes is helping the situation.'

'Actually, the first recorded instance of Solipsism is credited to presocratic sophist Gorgias, who postulated that nothing exists.' He continued to voice the complete history of Solipsism, and Emily found herself somewhat comforted by the fountain of knowledge. It was one familiar thing in an increasingly unfamiliar world.

**A/N: One exam down, three to go. More chapters of this and Sanity Frontier as I see fit. Note that this is an entirely separate continuity from SF. For those who want to know about the appearances of the rest of the team in this fic, I can't say too much without ruining my projected storyline, so be patient. Cheers. tfm.**


	3. Chapter 3

Shadows of the Mind

_**Life is consciousness.**_

_Emmet Fox_

THREE

They continued to walk for what felt like miles. The landscape around them changed, but still retained a gloomy ambience.

'Do you hear that?' asked Emily. She was holding her head in her hands again; the pain had lingered, and if anything, it was worsening. White dots danced in front of her eyes, and she shut them quickly. For one fleeting moment, she was somewhere else. The white flooded her eyes, the voices in her head became clear, and the pain subsided, for just one moment.

Then she opened her eyes. Everything came flooding back.

'I think I have some Tylenol in here somewhere.' Reid rummaged through the bag, coming out with a small pill bottle; it was unopened. He was wary of any drug use, pharmaceutical or otherwise, since the Dilaudid incident. The Tylenol was in the bag as much for pain relief as it was to prove that he didn't need it.

Grateful, Emily took the bottle. 'Thanks.' She dry-swallowed two of the tiny white pills. The irritants subsided, dulled by the painkillers. 'That was quick.'

'Feeling better?'

'Much.' She returned the pill bottle, watching him curiously. His changed appearance in the dark place was confusing. If they had really been transported to an alternate universe, then there was no discernable reason for his clothing and hairstyle to have changed, not to mention the magic reappearing messenger bag. He caught her glances.

'I've been thinking the same thing,' he assured her. 'It's entirely possible that the machine didn't actually send us to an alternate universe. A malfunction, perhaps. This could be some variety of afterlife,' he added, not altogether convinced that it wasn't.

'Halt.' A voice came from all around them. They obeyed it unconsciously. A figure in white appeared before them, his pristine clothes and skin a stark contrast to the strange world surrounding them. 'The stranger is unwanted,' the voice said in a bizarre tongue. It was not a language Reid recognised, though he seemed to understand the words anyway.

'What did he say?' asked Emily. She had experienced no such understanding.

'The stranger is unwanted,' Reid whispered in reply. He didn't know why he was whispering in front of this virtuous looking creature.

'Where are we?' asked Reid, surprised when his words were garbled into the same tongue.

'You already know,' was the enigmatic reply. The white figure began to fade into nothingness.

'Wait,' called out Reid. 'Who are you?'

He could feel the smile on the white figure's face, yet could not see it. '_Das Über-Ich_,' was the reply.

Left with no other alternative, they continued walking. 'I'm not supposed to be here,' Emily said eventually. It was a thought they had both been pondering since the appearance of the strange white figure. 'Whatever this is, it has something to do with you. I'm just along for the ride.'

Reid thought he knew the answer. His brain had put the pieces together at the speed of lightening, coming to a conclusion that was not at all comforting. He knew where he was, and he didn't like it one bit.

**A/N: If you know all the pieces, the answer's not hard to come to, really. It's kind of a half twist. Unexpected, perhaps, but not entirely unsolvable. Anyone who guesses gets to read the next chapter! I'm keeping the chapters for this one relatively short, so deal with it. Cheers, tfm.**


	4. Chapter 4

Shadows of the Mind

_**I don't want the demons taken away because they're going to take my angels too.**_

_James Hillman_

FOUR

It was about half an hour – or so they presumed – before anything of interest became visible on the horizon. Both of their watches were had stopped, frozen dead on the 12:00 mark.

'Do you see that?' asked Emily, pointing to a strange blur in the distance.

'Yes.' Reid squinted. 'I can't quite make out what it is though. It looks man-made.'

'It's something at least.'

The "something" in question turned out to be a castle. Tall, white and spiralling, it was a stark contrast to the depressive landscape.

'Like some kind of fairytale,' commented Emily. She paused and frowned, looking at Reid.

'No fairytales that I've read match the description of this landscape,' was his reply. That was one theory down, at least. There were still hundreds more that were distinct possibilities. Reid was keeping his own suspicions quiet until he found further proof.

'It's actually surrounded by a moat and drawbridge,' Reid noted with some amusement.

'What exactly is it that they're so intent on guarding against? I don't see any other structures around.' After there was no answer from Reid, she answered her own question. 'Monsters, maybe.'

Reid shivered involuntarily. 'Don't say that.'

'So how do we get in?'

Reid's solution to the problem was to walk straight up to the oversized wooden doors and knock loudly. What it lacked in subtlety, it made up for in sheer daring. Curiously enough, the door seemed to melt away at his touch. Similarly, the drawbridge lowered the moment he put his foot forward. He turned back towards Emily.

She looked at him hesitantly. Though the castle was much more welcoming than the surrounding scenery, it still had a foreboding air, as though it was a restricted offer only. She'd grown up around politicos of the highest order, and knew exclusivity when she saw it.

'Come on,' he encouraged her.

At Reid's behest, Emily followed cautiously. The anxiety she had upheld seemed to have loosened. She ignored the sudden return of the throbbing pain in her head.

Reid brushed a hand against the castle doors. They disintegrated to dust, particles coating his fingers. He peered inside; it was a foyer of some description, though it didn't seem to subscribe to any particular historical period.

He took a deep breath, and walked inside. Nothing happened. Hushed voices emanated from a room to his left. He began towards it, but stopped when he realised that Emily was not behind him. She was back at the door, head clutched in her hands, and teeth gritted. Her hand shot to her pocket, trying to gain a grip on the Tylenol that Reid had given her.

The world flashed white, and Reid only just managed to catch her before she hit the floor.

* * *

'Emily? Emily, can you hear me?' A voice. But it wasn't Reid's voice. It was deeper – Morgan? She opened her eyes slowly. She didn't seem to be in that strange place anymore. She was in a white room. After a few milliseconds, she recognised it as Hans Berkstein's laboratory.

'Where's Reid?'

'He's right beside you, he's still unconscious. It's going to be alright. The ambulance is on its way.'

'What?' she was confused – had it been a dream? Bizarre though it was, the place had felt real. 'The...castle? There's no castle? What?' She wasn't making any sense, and she knew it, but she couldn't seem to stop it. Already, she was slipping away from the real world. Slipping back into that dark, forbidding place.

'Emily? Emily!' Morgan's voice faded into the ether.

* * *

'Emily?' Not Morgan's voice. Reid's voice.

She was in a bed. A soft, warm, bed. Silken sheets and down pillows.

'Where...'

'This castle has a lot of empty bedrooms,' said Reid simply. 'You've been out almost eight hours.'

'Eight hours? That can't be right.' She knew she'd barely spoken to Morgan for thirty seconds.

'Well I counted eight, but they don't have any clocks here, so I can't be sure.'

'We're not in an alternate reality,' she said.

'I know.'

That revelation did not surprise Emily, though she did wonder why he hadn't said anything.

'We're unconscious – in the real world. I woke up. We're still in Berkstein's lab. We could be in some kind of...dreamland.'

'We're not. Do you see that painting up there?'

She followed his finger to an oversized painting of a wizened old man. He wore a tall, pointed hat. A long grizzly beard sprung from his chin.

'Gandalf? Dumbledore? Merlin? Which one is it?'

'I'd say Merlin is the closest approximation, but look closer. The physical features – behind the beard and had.'

Without those notable features, the picture was indeed strikingly familiar. 'Gideon.'

Reid nodded, adding, 'I suppose it's more accurate to say that it's a mental representation of Gideon.'

'A mental representation?' Her brain was still attempting to catch up the situation, reeling from pain and temporally confusing unconsciousness.

'We're not inside a dreamland, Emily,' Reid explained. 'We're inside my _mind_.'

**A/N: Exams are finished, so the only thing impeding the finishing of this and the Angels Fall First trilogy is work and my mother's hovering presence. Will try, though.**


	5. Chapter 5

Shadows of the Mind

_**The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious.**_

_Albert Einstein_

FIVE

A squire brought them dinner as Emily digested this – admittedly, rather large – piece of information.

'Inside your_ mind_?' she asked, for what Reid counted as the fifth time.

Instead of answering affirmatively, Reid nodded towards the door. 'Did you look at the face of the man that just brought you dinner?'

She nodded. She looked at every face, consciously or not. It was a profiler thing. The squire did look familiar, but she wasn't sure she could place his identity without thinking. Reid's presence made up for that.

'Agent Anderson.'

She furrowed her brow, looked at the door, then at the meal in front of her, and then back at Reid. She seemed somewhat convinced, but Reid chose to explain it again anyway. He was still trying to understand it himself.

'My brain was connected to the computer equipment. You were unstrapping the helmet when Doctor Berkstein pulled the lever. The computer equipment, which was attempting to use the power of my brain to access alternate realities, malfunctioned, trapping us both in a physical manifestation of my mind.' It seemed a rather farfetched explanation, but as far as they knew, it was the truth.

'That sounds like a bad science fiction novel,' commented Emily, and she knew. She had read some _really_ bad science fiction in her time. She gulped down a chunk of potato; for a "physical manifestation of Reid's mind," the food tasted pretty good.

'It does,' agreed Reid; he too had explored the horrific depths of depravity. When they had finished eating, Reid took her downstairs.

'I understand if you don't exactly feel comfortable giving a guided tour. I know there's a lot of stuff on my mind that I don't want to share.'

He smiled, grateful that she wasn't going to push the matter. Still, there were some things he did need to explain. 'Everyone in the castle I've met so far is a mental representation of people I see on a day to day basis. I'd guess that in part, this castle represents my present.

'Wait...day to day basis? Does that mean...?'

'Yeah. Come and meet the Knights of the Round Table.'

* * *

It was highly amusing for her to see Derek Morgan in full plate armor, sword brandished at a harmless looking wooden post. _This was how Reid saw Morgan_, she reminded herself, and couldn't help but agree. Morgan was usually the one doing the physical stuff, tackling unsubs and whatnot. Even the Morgan in his head was a sweet-talker. He stopped his mock battle, simply to give her a wink. It was almost disconcerting.

Rossi was the older, more grizzled knight, who didn't need to fight a dummy to prove himself. Instead, he excused himself partway through the introduction, announcing his need to find the Questing Beast.

Garcia was, appropriately enough, a Seer. She was dressed rather mystically, looking not that much different than normal. Dozens of crystal balls stood in place of their electronic counterparts.

"The King's messenger", JJ introduced herself as. It seemed an oversimplification of her real-world duties, but then, as JJ often lamented to Emily, most people did underestimate exactly what her job involved.

The King himself, that came as a surprise. Hotch. Reid explained to her in low whispers that it didn't mean he saw Hotch as some kind of royalty, but as a leader.

'They seem like different people, almost,' commented Emily.

'For all intents and purposes, they are. I spoke to the Seer – Garcia – she said she'd look into a way of trying to get us out of here.'

'Unconsciousness seemed to work. Maybe if they killed us instead.'

'Didn't you ever see the Matrix?' he joked, hoping to avoid the question he thought inevitable. Naturally, it was the next thing she asked.

'Were there a couple of "mental representations" missing?'

'They're on a quest,' he answered simply.

She laughed at that. 'Yeah,' she realised. 'They are.'


	6. Chapter 6

Shadows of the Mind

_**Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.**_

_George Santayana_

A/N: This chapter contains mild spoilers for several sci-fi, horror and fantasy series.

SIX

Reid and Emily sat down at the round table. His mental representations of the rest of the team soon followed suit.

'It's like a case,' Emily muttered to Reid under her breath.

'You don't have to whisper,' Reid said in reply. 'Technically speaking, I think they know everything I know.'

Taking his words to heart, she spoke louder. 'It's like we're profiling the human mind literally.'

'We know how we got here,' Reid started.

'Mad scientist's beta stage machine trapped us inside your mind. Check.' Emily smiled. It was the most bizarre set of circumstances she had ever encountered, and yet she was almost half enjoying the experience.

'Now we have to find a way of getting out.'

Reid thought about every psychology textbook he had ever read. Every journal article, every single lecture he had attended. Not one of them dealt with the kind of knowledge he needed right now. In his experience, there was one part of his memory that could help him with this. If it were anyone else with him, he would have felt embarrassed saying it. But Emily knew. Emily understood.

'You mentioned bad science fiction novels,' he said. 'Virtual realities, strange worlds, those sorts of concepts. So many different stories, all using a marginally different way of escaping the world in question.'

'So…we should use your immense knowledge of science fiction to address all possible ways of escaping your mind?'

'Yes,' he replied. 'Though hopefully we should be able to accomplish it without destroying my mind.'

But, he conceded silently, if there was no other choice, he would do anything necessary to help Emily get out of there alive.

* * *

'Okay.' The whole imaginary team had joined in by this point, providing endless examples from Reid's own memory.

'Oh,' called out Garcia. 'Farscape. Season Four, Episode Seven. John Quixote. John has to kiss the princess to escape the game that Stark tried to trap him in.'

Emily laughed. 'Do you have any princesses to tell us about, Reid.'

He blushed unconsciously. 'No.'

'_Futurama_,' supplied Morgan. 'The Sting, where Leela awakes from her coma after putting herself into a coma in the dream world.

'Xena,' Emily joined in. 'The Bitter Suite. Xena and Gabrielle escape Illusia only when they have repaired their friendship.'

Reid gave her a sideways look.

'What?' she said. 'It was the musical episode.'

'Buffy,' added Reid himself. 'Restless. They can only escape their dreams after they confront the First Slayer.'

'Maybe that's it, Reid,' joked Emily. 'Maybe you have to confront your demons.'

He knew she wasn't being serious, that a confrontation of his demons would be a quest in itself. But still, he took a moment to seriously consider the idea.

At the look on the young profiler's face, Emily told him. 'No matter which path we take, I'm here to help.'

Once upon a time, after Henkel, he had pushed her away when she offered her help. Through all that, she had been there for him, even if he didn't want it. Then, after Gideon left, after the incident with Cyrus, she became someone he could truly depend on.

But now…did he need her help to confront the demons from his past?

The answer came easily.

Yes, he did.

**A/N: I swear, I haven't forgotten about this story. It's just it started off as an idea, and then I got stuck in the actual writing phase. But hopefully the monster slayage ahead should keep the ball rolling for me. I'm not giving up.**


	7. Chapter 7

Shadows of the Mind

_**Adversity does teach who your real friends are.**_

_Lois McMaster Bujold_

SEVEN

'A sword?' asked Emily. 'Seriously?' She balanced the deadly weapon in one hand, making practiced arcs.

'Fencing?' he asked.

'And Eskrima. Class hath its privileges.' There was some bitterness in her voice. 'But seriously,' she repeated. 'An arming sword?'

He brandished his own blade. 'Arming swords, also known as a knight's sword, were commonly used between the years 1000 and 1350. It was precursor to the longsword.'

'Oh, I get that.' There was a clinking sound as the two swords met. 'I was just wondering though. What's wrong with a phaser, or a lightsaber or something?'

'Can you imagine the Knights of the Round Table using phasers, Emily? That's like the Doctor using a gun. It just doesn't happen. In any case, this place has a very medieval feel to it.'

They were in the armory of the castle, stocking up on the requirements for their quest. Dozens of racks lined the walls, filled with almost every combat necessity imaginable. Axes, swords, bows and daggers. Shields, helmets, chain mail and gauntlets. This was truly the arsenal of Reid's mind.

'I'm not sure if I'm willing to put on full-plate,' she said, staring hesitantly at the wall of armor.

'It's like Kevlar,' he reasoned. 'Only…much, much heavier.'

'You try it, genius.' Reid did so, and realized that he could barely lift the protective garment, let alone don it.

'Maybe chain mail would work a little better.'

* * *

Garcia looked critically at the fully armed individuals from the world outside. 'You'll do,' she said, but not without some humor.

'So…where do we need to go?' asked Reid. He had a vague suspicion he knew; it was the place that all monsters lurked. The ones in his mind wouldn't be exempt from the rule.

'The dungeons.'

Reid almost groaned. He hated the dark.

* * *

'It's not so bad,' Emily tried to reassure him. But that was easy for her to say. She was the one carrying the torch.

'Right.'

'All we're missing is a few dragons.'

'Oh God,' he gave her a terrified glance, though he knew she couldn't see it. 'Why did you say that?'

'Shh,' she silenced him. 'Do you hear that?'

He stopped walking, started listening. It was a strange humming. 'Look.' He pointed down the passageway. A strangely ethereal glow permeated the darkness.

'Should we check it out?'

'That's what we're here to do, isn't it?'

They moved forward cautiously. Both kept a wary hand on their scabbards. The glow seemed to pulsate with life.

'Uh…hi.'

Though the ball of light did not respond with words, it seemed agreeable to their presence.

'Could you help us?' asked Reid. The thought of asking a non-corporeal object for help was a strange one. 'We, uh…we need to find the demons…?' He spoke as if asking a question.

The ball of light edged to the left, illuminating a fork in the path.

'Go left?' The light edged further. They followed it. Then, without warning, it disappeared. The only light now came from the torch in Emily's left hand.

'Put it in the bracket,' Reid instructed.

'What? Why?'

'Because those demons we're supposed to be slaying? One of them is coming this way.'

And its name was Gary Brendan Michaels.

**A/N: I really can't write long chapters to save my life. I'll have to either work on that, or collab with someone who will write long chapters. ****Looking yesterday I realized that I have six stories that I'm working on, so I've put up a poll on my profile page if anyone wanted to vote on which I should be prioritizing.**


	8. Chapter 8

Shadows Of The Mind

_**Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.**_

_Jim Morrison_

EIGHT

'Fire, Reid?' asked Emily. 'Really?' It had come as a great surprise to both of them when the demon that was Gary Brendan Michaels had started breathing fireballs.

They were crouched behind a convenient rock wall, feeling the heated spheres of flame shoot over their heads.

Breathing fire was not the only facet in which the demon counterpart differed from the human. For one thing, Emily doubted that Gary Brendan Michaels was ten feet tall with curled horns.

'How do you know it's him, anyway?' she had asked.

He just knew.

'It stands to reason that my personal demons won't be easy to defeat,' he protested.

'So what do we do?'

'Well it's a demon of _my _mind, so it might be dangerous to you.' He didn't want her to risk herself to save him, but at this point, he was following his mind instead of his heart.

She rolled her eyes, but she knew that the idea had some merit.

She stood up, sword in hand.

The next ball of fire threw her backwards into the cave wall.

* * *

She awoke in the real world with a gasp. Worried faces surrounded her.

'No,' she whispered. 'No, I have to go help Reid.'

'Hey.' Morgan put an arm on her shoulder. 'It's going to be okay. Reid's in the bed next to you. The doctors say he should be awake soon.'

'No.' Her head was swimming. She couldn't be here. She couldn't leave him in that place. 'I need to go back. I NEED TO GO BACK!' She knew how this would end. She had counted on it. She felt the sedative pumping through the IV. She felt the world around her slipping away.

She opened her eyes.

* * *

She blinked several times. Her head hurt like hell, and she could have sworn she was just on fire.

'How long was I out?'

'Just a couple of minutes.' His face was lined with worry. She knew that look. That guilt he had tried so hard to hide after the ordeal with Cyrus.

'I'm fine, really,' she told him. 'The time discrepancies are getting shorter though.' Another ball of flame shot over their heads. The demon didn't seem to be taking a direct attack. Like all personal demons, it seemed to just fester, waiting in the darkness, eating away at the soul.

'Let's think outside the box,' suggested Emily. 'How do we deal with demons? Think Psych 101.'

'We confront them.' He looked around. 'It doesn't look like it's working so well.'

'No, I'm not talking about a physical confrontation. That's the coup de grace. Air your demons. Talk to them. Tell them what's bothering you.' Admittedly, it sounded weak to her. She had had some experience with confronting demons, but she had never quite taken the logical approach. It was always easier to preach than to practice.

'So…I tell him what's bothering me?' Reid asked, incredulous. 'You think that'll work?'

'Honestly, Reid? I have no fucking idea.'

He nodded, and stood up, albeit rather shakily. 'Gary Brendan Michaels.' His voice matched his body, tremble for tremble. Overhead, the fireballs stopped.

'Do you want me to block my ears?' she asked. She didn't want him to be forced into revealing all his darkest secrets, his deepest fears in front of her.

'No,' he said. Because confronting your demons is about letting people in as well. Letting them help.

She stood to join him, moving so that she was behind him. She had his back.

'Gary Brendan Michaels,' he repeated. 'You killed a boy. You killed Riley Jenkins. You were planning to kill me too.'

'He's weakening,' whispered Emily softly.

Reid continued. 'I resent you for your death, because you tore my family apart. My mother…she was never the same after slipped in your blood. And my father, my father couldn't stand the burden of having covered up the crime. He left me – left us – and if you had never come into my life, then maybe…maybe my father would have stayed with us, maybe we could have been a family.' He stared the demon in the eyes, and then finished with. 'But we weren't.'

The demon didn't seem to be moving. It was simply standing there, non-responsive.

'Do you want my help?' Emily asked, brandishing the sword.

He needed to let them in.

'Yes please.'

She thrust the sword through the demon's chest. It exploded into fragments of darkness, evaporating before they hit the ground. Some fragments lingered.

Because no matter how often you confronted them, how often you defeated them, a fragment of your demons will always remain.

Lingering in the darkness.


	9. Chapter 9

Shadows Of The Mind

_**Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear.**_

_Henry Wadsworth Longfellow_

NINE

If they had been perturbed by the appearance of Gary Brendan Michaels, then the next demon nearly terrified them. The correct term would of course have been _demons_. High school students, no less. Alexa Lisbon, Harper Hillman, the entire football team, Reid had told her.

'I've always wondered what a football team would look like with the horns and tail,' she quipped. It was intriguing to her that, at times, adolescents could be far more damaging to a person than the most depraved of adults.

She couldn't empathize with him. She had moved around so often that she had never stayed at the same school for too long. The times she had, she chose to purposely distance herself from the other students. It seemed easier that way.

'It doesn't really make a difference to me,' he said dully. He had always seen them as demons of one form or another.

'Are you ready?' she asked him. He took a deep breath and looked over his shoulder. They had taken cover behind another rock wall – the things were coming in quite handy. No less than a dozen dark, fiery figures surrounded them. He wasn't sure if he could take them all at once.

'Take a deep breath,' she advised him. 'I'm here for you.'

He knew that. He didn't need her to tell him that. Even when he had pushed her away, she had always been there, concerned for his welfare. Once, he had rued that fact. Now he was grateful for it.

He stood up, and he faced the demons that had haunted him for almost fifteen years.

* * *

Morgan and JJ stayed in the hospital room, waiting for either Reid or Emily to wake up. Emily had woken briefly twice, both times asking about Reid. He had lied to her the second time, telling her he would wake up soon. He hadn't wanted her to panic. Fat lot of good that did.

The truth was, the doctors were stumped. Reid had been through some trauma, yet nothing that would account for a period of unconsciousness so extended. Emily, though. As far as they knew, Emily was in perfect health, yet she was experiencing delusions, not to mention her own periods of unconsciousness.

The sedative should have calmed her. Instead, it had sent her back into oblivion.

Hans Berkstein had given them nothing substantial. He had laughed gleefully upon being told what his machine had done to two federal agents. Forensics was going through his labs now, and according to the grapevine, they were finding some truly bizarre things.

Books about time travel, books about viruses, about alternative realities, alternate dimensions. He was trying to put all these things into practice. He was doing fairly well with some of them too.

Reid would have found it all incredibly fascinating. Instead, he was lying there, unmoving.

Inside, a battle raged.

* * *

'Relax your grip,' she told him, as he thrust the sword towards a demon. He missed, and turned slightly to face her.

'What?'

'You need to relax the grip. And bend your elbow.' He ducked out of the way of a blast of lightening.

He complied, and when he next struck, the demon shattered. He had studied sword-fighting techniques, but putting them into practice was much harder. He was sure that after a few more fights like this, he would have a better understanding of it.

While his words had done significant damage to the beasts, they had not been incapacitated completely. That was what the swords were for.

In the real world, he wasn't armed with swords. There was a gun, yes, but that was something else altogether.

In the real world, he was armed with friends.


	10. Chapter 10

Shadows of the Mind

_**Some men just aren't cut out for paternity. Better they should realize it before and not after they become responsible for a son.**_

_Lois McMaster Bujold_

TEN

'Do you want to do this one alone?' she asked him. They were standing at the very end of a narrow passage. The strange being of light hovered beside them, providing – if nothing else – moral support.

'No,' he said. 'No, I'm good.' It had taken a lot of courage for him to have accepted Morgan and Rossi's help in Vegas, and he wasn't going to turn down Emily now. If they were going to defeat the demon that was William Reid, they would do it together.

The light gave him a warmth that he would not have otherwise found in the stark surroundings. It made him feel safe, secure. It made the task ahead seem somehow less daunting.

They walked down the passage slowly, gripping sword hilts.

'William?' Reid called out tentatively. Though he had begun reconciliations with his father, he wasn't quite comfortable with addressing him as "Dad."

'Hello Spencer.' The voice was dark and low, not strictly comparable with the man he knew. But this demon was a manifestation that had been building up inside of him for over fifteen years. It was unsurprising that it sounded so…evil.

'You…you abandoned me,' he started, his voice weak. He knew that the hatred for his father that had built up inside of him could not be defeated by words alone.

'What of it? If I left, it was because you made me.' The sinister voice seemed to permeate every fiber of his being. It made his teeth shake, made his heart beat faster.

'That's not true, Reid, you know that,' Emily whispered to him. She felt her throat seize up, and she immediately realized that she could no longer speak. Whether this was Reid's conscious doing, or the doing of the demon William, she did not know. She suspected – hoped – that it was the latter.

'You made me feel as though I was nothing, as though I wasn't worth the effort of staying behind. Just because you kept tabs on me doesn't mean you were there for me.' Instinctively, he stepped closer to the tall beast. A long hand reached out to touch him.

'WE NEEDED YOU!' yelled Reid suddenly. In one swift movement, he sliced the hand from its owner's torso. The words stopped flowing; swords were now the weapon of choice.

* * *

'Anything new?' Hotch asked Morgan, who had been sitting diligently at the side of his two colleagues.

'Nothing. It's almost as if they're asleep,' he commented, watching the rise and fall of their chests. He felt an overwhelming guilt. He had been there with them, and yet he hadn't been able to stop them from falling away.

When – if – they woke up, though, he would put a smile on his face, pat them on the backs, and take them out for a drink. There was a strange sense of solidarity between the three of them; they spent a fair bit of time together outside of work as well.

He wondered if today, he'd be losing that friendship.

* * *

Injury, it seemed, was possible even on this non-corporeal plane of existence. Never before had his father inflicted physical wounds on him, but there was always a first. It didn't seem to matter that this wasn't actually his father. It was close enough.

He was bleeding from a dozen different places. Vicious claws sprung from the demon's remaining hand, indiscriminate as to what got sliced. Finally, though, Reid got a lucky swing through. It was unskilled, but he still managed to pierce the creature's chest. As it fragmented, he dropped backwards, panting.

'Are you alright?' Emily asked him, though he could see that she too was injured. At one point, the claws had raked across her stomach, leaving three tell-tale wounds.

'I…I'm fine.'

And he meant it.

**A/N: Okay, there are two demons left for them to fight, so there will be a few more chapters – not sure how many. We'll see. Poll up on my profile page about which story I should be starting next.**


	11. Chapter 11

Shadows of the Mind

_**When you make a mistake, don't look back at it long. Take the reason of the thing into your mind and then look forward. Mistakes are lessons of wisdom. The past cannot be changed. The future is yet in your power.**_

_Hugh White_

**A/N: So I made a mistake – there are actually three demons left. I completely forgot about the one for this chapter, which is stupid of me, because it's one of the most important ones. I'll admit the final chapters may be a little lackluster, as I seem to have lost my motivation for this one. I will complete it nonetheless. Without further ado here's Henkel.**

ELEVEN

Morgan was sitting with his head in his hands when he first saw the blood. It seemed to spring from dozens of cuts in Reid's limbs. It soaked the sheets. Morgan stared, horrified. Then he noticed that Emily too was bleeding – three distinct slashes across her lower chest.

'Someone get a Doctor in here!' he yelled. He didn't know what it meant. Didn't know about the struggle his friends were going through. Didn't know how the lines between reality and Reid's consciousness were blurring.

That soon, his friends would be back, albeit in this injured state.

* * *

In his human form, Tobias Henkel had been a formidable opponent. He was a three for the price of one deal – you got Charles Henkel and Raphael whether you wanted them or not. As such, Reid's emotions were conflicted. For Tobias, he felt pity, guilt. And yet Tobias was also the person who had gotten him hooked on Dilaudid – could he really be blamed?

Apparently that was the focus of the exercise, though blaming was a very strong word. Could he really blame the man that had been corrupted by his father so? Should he blame the father instead? It didn't seem to matter, because here, in his mind, they were one and the same.

'It's Cerberus,' he told Emily. 'The three-headed dog.'

'Gee, you think?' Her manner, perhaps, would have been kinder had she not been trapped beneath a colossal paw.

'Tobias,' he called out. 'Tobias, you're stronger than them. You are your own man.' The tactic wasn't working as well as he expected; while the three heads were fighting amongst themselves, it didn't prevent them from attacking Reid either. Constant battle had weakened the young genius, but he wasn't backing down.

He was going to finish this fight.

* * *

Two doctors, followed by Hotch, JJ, Rossi and Garcia came running at Morgan's calls. They were at first surprised, then troubled by the sight of the blood.

'What's going on?' Hotch demanded of the nearest doctor.

The doctor checked the machines, and then joined his counterpart in stemming the blood flow of both patients.

'I don't know.' His voice was laced with incredulousness, as if this situation was one he had never encountered before. 'Patients don't spontaneously get wounds like this,' he told them, drawing attention to a cut on Reid's arm. It wasn't the kind of thing that just appeared.

'Are they going to be okay?' Morgan asked, his voice fearful.

'I have no idea,' admitted the doctor. 'We can stitch up the wounds easily enough, but if we don't know the source, then there's no way of determining if that will solve the problem.' Once he had gotten over the initial shock, the doctor had taken to treating the occurrence as one of an everyday variety. It helped.

'And that's not to mention the comas,' the other doctor piped up. Morgan threw him a dirty look – he wasn't helping in the slightest.

'Call a nurse,' the first doctor ordered. 'Let's get these wounds stitched up.'

* * *

The demons that were Charles Henkel and Raphael had been slain, but not without help from Tobias. Now Reid stood before the now dejected looking creature, a strange look on his face. Emily stood behind him, watching. She knew she wasn't needed here.

'I'm sorry, Tobias,' he said. 'I'm sorry that I had to kill you. I'm sorry your life turned out the way it did. But you know you need to leave now.' The dog looked at him with mournful eyes, as if it didn't understand the concept. 'I'm sorry,' Reid repeated. 'But I need to be free of you.'

The demon gave a heart-wrenching moan as he thrust the sword through the beast's chest. They watched as glittering pieces snowed to the ground.

Emily put a hand to his shoulder. 'It's almost over,' she assured him.

She hoped fervently that she was right, because she didn't know if either of them could survive it much longer.


	12. Chapter 12

Shadows of the Mind

**_Life is an unbroken succession of false situations._**

_Thornton Wilder_

TWELVE

They sat against a rocky wall in the hallways of the dark passages of Reid's mind. As easy as it was to pledge to finish their quest, it was much harder to actually do so. Some of the demons fought were obvious; the people that had had a great impact on Reid's life. There were others that he wouldn't have even considered demons – people that he didn't even realize had affected him so much.

To purge them all was a daunting – and dangerous – task, one that Reid sensed they were reaching the end of. He had reached this conclusion when the strange being of light had graced them with its presence once again. It gave off a feeling of hope, of impending freedom.

Of course, that was providing that they didn't die horribly first. Reid was unsure if it were possible to die in this non-corporeal place, but if it were, he knew he was drawing close. He did not know how many more demons he could survive.

Emily too, was fading fast – faster than Reid. He suspected it had something to do with the fact that she was a foreign presence in his mind. Yes, the headaches had stopped, but that did not preclude continued unconscious efforts to remove that foreign presence. Her head rested against his shoulder, heavy sword lying on the ground beside them.

'Thank-you,' he said to her, in amongst the silence.

'I'm here to help,' she responded, her eyes closed.

'No, I mean…not just for helping fight my demons…' He paused, unsure of what to say. 'I don't…You know it's hard for me to express something that isn't in percentages. I don't usually share what's going on in my mind. I think I'm afraid – afraid of what people might think. My mind isn't the most comforting thing to be exposed to. I…thank-you for not being intimidated by the demons, is what I'm trying to say, I guess.' He was not happy with the words he had spoken; he knew that they didn't have the emotional impact he was trying to achieve. She understood nonetheless.

'I hope you'll grant me the same favor when we take the trip through _my _mind,' she said. He laughed softly. She lifted her head up, stretching her arms.

'Are you ready to keep moving?' he asked her.

'It's now or never,' she replied grimly.

* * *

They found themselves in an open cavern, flaming torches adorning every wall. Their eyes were not on the torches. Their eyes were on the demon standing at the opposite end of the room. They recognized him almost instantly. Though Emily would never admit it, Benjamin Cyrus was a personal demon for her as much as he was for Reid.

'"Savages they call us, because our manners differ from theirs."' Spencer Reid can remember every word spoken to him by Benjamin Cyrus, but for some reason, it is these words that the demon has chosen to repeat. Perhaps it is to do with his choosing of the word "demon" to describe the presences in his mind; as if they are all a negative influence. He knew that was not strictly true. While the demons were certainly a manifestation of negative experiences, he knew that he would not be the man he was today without their influence.

He looked across at Emily. She stood resolute, fire in her eyes. This would be as close as she would ever get to killing Cyrus, to avenging the loss of innocent life. Sometimes she still rued the fact that it was Morgan that got to take the killing shot.

It seemed strange to Reid that this demon was so much stronger than any of the others had been. He had considered his experiences in La Plata County to be important, but not important enough to warrant a twelve-foot tall monster with a giant sword. If he were to sit down and spend more than a microsecond thinking about the fact, he would have come to the conclusion that perhaps the recency of the event, combined with Emily's experiences with Cyrus culminated in this unstoppable killing machine.

The battle banter that they had once traded was gone; they now concentrated fully on destroying the beast before them. It was a difficult task. Reid found himself knocked back by a giant fist. It took him several seconds to recover.

Too late, Reid saw Emily pinned against the wall. Too late, he saw the beast thrust his sword into her chest. The look in her eyes was one of pain and anger. Pain at the long sliver of metal that had just been lodged in her torso, and anger at the fact that she was still unable to give herself Cyrus closure.

She closed her eyes as her body disintegrated around the sword, leaving Reid trapped alone in the vast depths of his own mind.

* * *

For Morgan, everything seemed to happen at once. The machine next to Emily started beeping loudly, as Emily herself arced backwards. Blood seeped from her chest, staining the sheets that had just been replaced.

One of the doctors had remained in the room, keeping watch for any more strange occurrences. In his book, this definitely seemed to count as a strange occurrence.

'She's going into cardiac arrest,' he told nobody in particular. Morgan found himself pushed hurriedly out of the room, replaced by a multitude of doctors and nurses. The rest of the team came running at the sound of the commotion. There would be "wet floor" signs going up the moment the cleaning staff noticed the coffee that had been spilt by the rushing FBI agents.

'What's happening?' asked Hotch.

'Emily's going into cardiac arrest.' Morgan did not even realize that he had started gripping Garcia's hand tightly as he stared back into the hospital room fearfully. 'There was blood everywhere.' Those words he spoke softly, as if he was hoping that they weren't true, that he had imagined the whole thing.

Five individuals straightened noticeably as a doctor exited the room. The look on his face was imperceptible, even for three of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's best profilers.

'She's stable,' he said finally, his words belying the amount of blood that seemed to cover him. 'And surprisingly,' he added. 'Conscious. But we need to stitch it up, otherwise she will bleed out.'

Five faces, stared at him incredulously, as if they needed the information to be repeated.

'She's going to be alright?' asked Hotch, the first to speak after the doctor's revelations.

'In my medical opinion, yes.' He raised an eyebrow. 'But after tonight, I don't think my medical opinion is worth squat.'


	13. Chapter 13

Shadows of the Mind

_**All of the significant battles are waged within the self.**_

_Sheldon Koff_

THIRTEEN

Reid watched in a stunned silence as Emily disappeared. _Was she dead? Gone? Had she escaped this place? Had she merely been transported to another part of his mind?_ He often prided himself on knowing the answers to any questions his friends and colleagues might have. These questions, though, he could not answer, and it frightened him somewhat.

He did not have a chance to answer them, though, distracted as he was by the giant beast in front of him. The beast that he was yet to defeat.

He knew the profile behind Benjamin Cyrus. The cult leader had been so adamant in his beliefs that he was willing to go to all lengths to protect them. He had tried attacking the beliefs the first time round, but that had only led to some very bruised ribs. In the end, the only thing that had destroyed the real Cyrus was Morgan. Morgan wasn't here right at that time, so thought was not particularly helpful.

He dodged a swinging sword, still wet with shining blood. _Is it real blood?_

More specifically, the bullets from Morgan's gun had destroyed Cyrus. Brute force – was that what he was reduced to?

But then, Cyrus's overconfidence had been significant in his downfall. The cult leader had relied on God's will to guide him, and, in the end that had destroyed him.

Keeping these principles in mind, Reid gripped the hilt of his own sword, and fought back.

* * *

By nature, Derek Morgan was not a fearful man. He had stared down gun barrels, had walked away from fiery explosions unscathed. Still, he was finding it difficult to walk into that hospital room, to see what damage this strange night had done to Emily.

He knew that her experiences, the status of her health, could give them some baseline as to when Reid would wake up. Apart from a few more inexplicable cuts, he remained the same.

After a short nudge from JJ, he entered the room with a little more momentum than he had intended.

Emily's head jerked up at the commotion. She had remained silent, as if not wanting to interact with the world, to find out that this was just some other reality, and that she had not returned after all.

She gave the team a wary look. 'Are you the Knights of the Round table?' She was surprised to find that, in addition to her aching body, her voice was raspy. The non-corporeal events had had a more detrimental effect on her than she had realized.

Hotch frowned; had there been some brain damage? Was she hallucinating?

At their confused looks, she shook her head. 'Never mind. How long was I out?'

'A while,' is the vague answer she is given. She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her body. She coughed, small droplets of blood splattering.

'I'm fine,' she said, before any of them had time to react. 'I just...lots of fighting.' She did not elaborate. The looks on the faces of the team are still highly confused. Morgan sat down in the chair beside the bed.

'Can you tell us what happened?' he asked, unsure of what the answer would be. In light of all the strange things that had been happening that day, it quite possibly could have been anything.

'We...Reid and I, that is, we were uh...fighting demons.' At the raised eyebrows on Morgan's face, she attempts to clarify. 'Inside Reid's mind.'

There was a few moments of painstaking silence.

'Of course,' said JJ eventually.

Emily shrugged, sending a throbbing sensation down her torso. 'You asked.'

She turned towards the bed beside her, watching the slow rise and fall of Reid's chest. The rest of the team followed her lead. 'He needs help,' she said sombrely. 'Fighting off demons isn't something you can do alone.'

'What should we do?' Morgan asked. He was willing to defer to Emily's judgment on the matter. Whether she was delusional or not, her suggestions might still have their use in waking Reid from his coma.

'I don't know, hold his hand?'

With some trepidation, Morgan edged over to the other bed. He found Reid's still hand, and slipped his own fingers into it. It felt strange; usually he would have expected JJ or Garcia to be the ones doing this kind of comforting. He found himself to be more of the "comforting with words" type.

He squeezed the hand tightly.

* * *

Reid found himself faltering. His body was failing. His mind had always been the dominant part of him. He almost regretted that now; if his mind was a little less strong, then it wouldn't be so hard to fight the demons in it.

He felt his hand tighten, as though someone was squeezing it. It sent a surge of warmth, of energy through his body. He was not quite in perfect health, but he thought it might be enough to deliver an injurious blow.

It surprised him greatly when his sword went through the beast's chest like it was butter. Previously, there had been a thick, armoured hide. He didn't understand this. He didn't understand any of this.

The beast sunk to the floor.

Beside him, the white light shimmered. It almost seemed to be congratulating him.

'I admit, I didn't think you'd make it this far,' a voice said.

He knew that voice, didn't he? Why was it so familiar?

'Your mind is strong, but I never really thought that your body could hold up.'

_That's strange. It – he – is repeating the same thing I just said_. Of course, any creature in his mind would have access to his thoughts, he just found it strange that there was one who choice to repeat it ad verbatim.

'But then, you've always sucked the strength from your friends, haven't you?'

And the final demon stepped out of the shadows. The one man Spencer Reid would have to defeat if he were to escape the chaos of his mind.

Himself.


	14. Chapter 14

Shadows of the Mind

_**To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.**_

_Sun Tzu_

FOURTEEN

Reid dropped the sword, but it was not out of shock, or even defeat. He knew that this battle was not one that could be fought with weapons, metaphorical or otherwise. Because in the end, it was a battle of the mind.

The other Reid – he found himself calling it the Construct – simply stared at him.

'So that's it? You're just going to give up, stop fighting? That's very uncharacteristic of you, Spencer.'

'I haven't stopped fighting,' whispered Reid quietly – he knew the Construct could hear him no matter what volume he spoke at. 'I will never stop fighting.'

Realistically, he knew that this Construct was trying to bait him, but that didn't stop him from feeling admonished.

'In the end, you're weak, Spencer. You know that. How many times has the sadistic killer tried to take it out on you? How many times have you relied on your friends to save you? You might try to save yourself, but in the end, you can never win.'

Reid found himself nodding. You could never put the demons to rest forever. Ever. This, he knew.

'You're afraid of me, aren't you.' the Construct accused.

'Yes,' he said. 'But I accepted that a long time ago.

The Construct smiled, and it was a strange, twisted smile. 'That's all it ever takes, Spencer. Acceptance. Now are you ready to go home?'

Reid stared around himself, at the strange, forbidding tunnels, at the manifestations of his mind. He had found the demons. He had accepted that he could never beat them off entirely. It had been a productive experience, hadn't it?

'I'm ready,' he said. In a way, he felt almost underwhelmed.

And then the world dropped away around him.

* * *

It was Morgan who first noticed the changes in the unconscious Reid. He was still squeezing the young genius's hand, suddenly aware of the fact that the hand was squeezing back.

'Reid,' he said, causing the rest of the team to refocus their attention. 'Reid?'

Reid's awakening was much less violent than Emily's had been. He blinked his eyes open slowly, observing his surroundings. This was the familiar world he remembered.

'I…ugh.' It hurt to move, hurt to speak. He tried to sit up, and only did so successfully with help from Morgan and Garcia. 'Emily, is she…?'

Morgan gave a half smile. 'Look to the left, boy genius.' His heart skipped a beat when he saw her lying there, worse for wear, but alive nonetheless. He reached out a hand, the distance between the beds being small enough that their fingers could just brush.

'Did you tell them?' he asked, moving past the pain.

'I told them, but they didn't believe me.' She gave a shrug, followed by a wince.

'What,' joked Morgan. 'So the two of you really were fighting demons inside Reid's mind?'

Reid almost laughed. 'That was the best way you could describe it?'

'What would you have suggested?'

'I don't know…that you were helping me through some personal things?'

She nodded. 'Right. While we were both unconscious.'

'It still sounds better than "helping me slay demons!"'

At that point, Rossi intervened. 'I think perhaps we should leave these two alone for a bit – let them work out their issues.' He gave a slight eyebrow raise, as if he found the circumstances rather strange, but wasn't going to comment on it. 'The doctor should be in to check on you soon, Reid.'

Emily gave him a smile, and briefly, he wondered how this was going to affect their working relationship. She had seen parts of him that he had never let anyone see before. It comforted him somewhat to know that she wasn't running away screaming, but that was probably due to the fact that she was confined to a hospital bed.

'I think…' he started. 'I think everything's going to be okay.'

* * *

_Three weeks later._

Morgan sat at his desk, rummaging through the untidy pile of files he was supposed to be reading through. A mug of coffee sat untouched. It was just past nine a.m, and Reid wasn't in yet.

'Did you speak to Reid?' he asked Emily, who, like him, was trapped in the throes of her paperwork. Today was her first day back.

'I spoke to him last night,' she said, not looking up from the file she was scanning. 'He's coming in today. He's in the elevator now.'

It took several seconds for Morgan to process what she had said, and several more for Emily herself to realize it. As if on command, Reid entered the bullpen a little under a minute later.

'You had to have planned that,' said Morgan accusingly. 'There is no _way_ you knew he was in the elevator.'

'You knew I was in the elevator?' asked Reid curiously. 'I guess mind-melding has longer lasting side-effects than we thought.'

Morgan sighed, before returning his focus to the file in front of him.

Things were certainly going to be more interesting around the office.


End file.
